Mini-Grants and Shop Talks Foster Resource Conservation
Edge-of-field conservation practices, such as vegetation filter strips and bioreactors, can improve water quality, soil stability and wildlife habitat by reducing nutrient and sediment loss, but only a small percentage of farmers adopt them. With funding from FFAR’s Achieving Conservation through Targeting Information, Outreach and Networking (ACTION) program, Extension specialists at University of Wisconsin, Mississippi State University and University of Kentucky developed Good Idea Shop Talks and Good Idea Mini-Grants to encourage teams of farmers and farm advisors to implement these practices and promote peer-to-peer learning.
Using the mini-grants, seven teams of Midwest farmers and farm advisors in the Mississippi River Basin installed a variety of edge-of-field conservation practices, often on unproductive land. These interventions will reduce nutrient and sediment runoff, which may conserve resources so that farmers spend less on inputs like fertilizer and water, and improve resilience to extreme weather. The practices also help preserve the health of local rivers and streams and, ultimately, the Mississippi River.
Photo: Jenny Seifert, Watershed Outreach Specialist, UW speaks to farmers at a field day in Wisconsin (courtesy of Jenny Seifert)
In addition, the teams produced videos and podcasts highlighting why and how the farmers implemented their edge-of-field projects to help regional farmers consider these practices for their own operations. Through this shared knowledge, available to farmers on the One Good Idea site, water quality, soil health and farmer profits will increase across the region.